Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania - Record Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

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The physicians assigned to these Base Hospital units are commissioned as oflicers in the Medical Reserve Corps of the United States Army. One of their number is appointed Director. Upon this oflicer devolves the duty of selecting and organizing the personnel, as well as the task of purchas- ing and accounting for the vast amount of varied equipment required for one of these hospitals, which are organized on a basis of SOO bedsf The money for the purchase of equip- ment and all surgical supplies and dressings is supposed to be and in most instances has been provided by the local Red Cross Chapters. So long as a Base Hospital unit is not in active service it is under the jurisdiction of the American Red Cross. The moment, however, one of these units is mobilized and taken over by the government, it becomes a part of the Medical Department of the Army, subject absolutely to the orders of the Surgeon-General. VVhen the organization of a Base Hospital is assured its existence is authorized by the War Department and the hospital is given a number by which it is known thereafter. The Base Hospitals are numbered in the order of their authorization. Each Army Base Hospital has a commissioned personnel consisting of twenty-two physicians and surgeons, two den- tists, and a chaplain. When a hospital is ordered into active service the War Department puts it under the command of a regular army medical oHicer,.and also assigns to it an officer of the Quartermastefs Corps. ln addition to these oflicers there are with every Army Base Hospital, sixty-Hve nurses, one hundred and Hfty-three enlisted men, who belong to the enlisted reserve corps of the medical department, and six civilian employees. A corps of Hnurses' aids, twenty-five to fifty in number, have also been authorized for each Base Hos- pital unit. They represent an auxiliary nursing force, a re- serve to be called into service as occasion requires. Once on active duty, the conduct and administration of one of these 69

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There were tvvo reasons for organizing and equipping Base Hospitals in time of peace. In the Hrst place no government not at War has ever been Willing to spend the money to pm- vide completely and store the enormous amount of equipment and supplies necessary for the number of Base Hospitals fe- quired by a large army. To procure these after War is de- clared entails delays that result not only in needless deaths and great suffering among the wounded, but also in a lessen- ing of the number of effectives that are returned to the front, thereby seriously impairing the efficiency of the combatant troops. Therefore it was of prime importance to amass such equipment before it was urgently needed. ln the next place, first-class medical and surgical specialists and Well-trained nurses accustomed to Work together, make a more effective professional personnel than a group of physicians and nurses hurriedly gotten together from all parts of the country. Hence, While there was yet time, the medical officers and nurses for these Base Hospitals had to be carefully selected from various institutions so that a well co-ordinated body of skilled Workers would be immediately available whenever required. The far-sighted wisdom of those who conceived and car- ried out the early organization of these hospitals has been amply justified by subsequent events. . VVhen once the Base Hospital project became well known, many of the great civil hospitals throughout the country en- thusiastically undertook the organization of these units, usu- ally With the financial aid of some local chapter of the Amer- ican Red Cross. ln every instance the civil hospital, known as the 'mother institution, was of sullieient size to furnish the professional and nursing personnel for the Base Hospital. and at the same time to retain an adequate statl' for its own proper conduct. ln this wav, it was argued, the civilian popll- lation would not be neglected for the army. OS

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Army Base Hospitals differs in no Way from that of any Army General or Base Hospital. They are completely under mili- tary discipline and control and are responsible only to military authority. A As was to be expected from the institution that furnished the first Surgeon-General of any American Army and Whose sons have ever come to the front in all ti-mes of nation-al peril, the University of Pennsylvania promptly organized an Army Base Hospital and offered its services to the governmentf At present that Base Hospital, mobilized and fully equipped, is on active duty and is officially known as U. S. Army Base Hospital No. 20. Q It may be said Without fear of contradiction that no Base Hospital is better or more fully equipped than is Base Hos- pital No. ZO. This fact is a glowing tribute to the loyalty and unprecedented generosity of the friends and alumni of the University of Pennsylvania. The National Red Cross charged each of its local chapters With the duty of providing the funds for- fully equipping the Base Hospitals organized in their respective territories. It is a matter of record that the Base Hospitals organized in Philadelphia were never ac- corded the Hnancial aid to Which they Were entitled from the local Red Cross Chapter. As a consequence, it became neces- sary for those interested in the University Base Hospital to make a public appeal for its equipment and supplies. The thirty thousand dollars Worth of hospital equipment that every Base Hospital was required to purchase and store in time of peaceivvas provided for the University Base Hos- pital by the Harrison Fund. The sincerest thanks of every Pennsylvanian are due the generous donors of this fund, Mrs. Emily Leland Harrison, Mr. Thomas Skelton Harrison, and Mr. George L. Harrison, each of Whom contributed ten thou- sand dollars. When, after war was declared, the Base Hospitals were re- vo